A Pastor in The Northwest

I've been thinking a lot lately about the idea of mercy.   Songs have been written about it.   Movies have been made about it. People often ask for it.  Often, we are quite stingy with it. Mercy.   By definition, according to the smart people behind Merriam-Webster:  compassion, leniency, or restraint (as in imposing punishment) shown especially to an offender or to one subject to the power of another I've thought of mercy as not receiving punishment or a judgment that is well deserved. Unfortunately, our natural tendency is to want mercy for ourselves but justice for others. I want to be a person of mercy.   As Paul David Tripp wrote in his New Morning Mercies collection of devotionals,  "And as you begin to remember that God's mercy is your only hope and you meditate on the grandeur of the mercy that has been showered on you, you begin to want to help others experience that same mercy." Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord ha...

Sometimes Christ-followers get caught up in discussions and speculations on issues like the end times.  We can read passages that speak of the great day of the Lord or judgment or even new heavens and earth, but I fear that we might miss the point. Jesus didn't give us a clear and detailed roadmap and timeline for His second coming, but He did tell us how to handle life until that day.  He called His followers to be active participants in His kingdom work! We have roles to play, gifts and abilities to leverage, and people who need hope all around us.  As Matthew 24:44-46 states, " You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.  A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing his other household servants and feeding them.  If the master returns and finds that the servant has done a good job, there will be a reward." May we live out our 'active participant' roles until He comes ...

I read this today from commonprayer.net : On January 12, 1948, Mohandas Gandhi began his last successful fast in New Delhi to convince Hindus and Muslims in the city to work toward peace. Six days later, convinced that harmony was achieved, he ended the fast. For most of his adult life, Gandhi read Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount every morning, convinced that it contained a truth more powerful than the empire that occupied his native India or the enmity that divided Hindus and Muslims. Through “experiments in truth” like the public fast, he sought to put Jesus’ teachings into practice for the sake of peace. Gandhi said, “Prayer is not an old woman’s idle amusement. Properly understood and applied, it is the most potent instrument of action.” Although I may not agree with everything Gandhi did and believed, I can still admire his courage, bravery, and his practices of fasting and prayer.   I do believe those disciplines, directed at our Great God and Savior Jesus Christ, can move mo...

I've said it before, and it bears repeating...waiting on the Lord is not an easy ride or simple virtue. No, i t is work!   It is frustrating at times.   It is yielding and surrender, which, for most of us, is challenging to say the least.   Yet, that is the call for all who choose to follow Messiah Jesus.  In fact, His call is STILL for people, by faith, to follow Him.  Where He goes, we're to follow Him.  He's the shot-caller.  He's the Lord and the authority. Ugh - easier said than done.   Yet, we can look at the example of people like Noah who had to wait many, many years for God to work and, when God's plan began to be revealed, Noah had to wait even longer for fulfillment - even spending a lot of time on the ocean in a smelly, creaky boat full of filthy animals! God, empower us to wait on You to renew our strength and bring Your will to fulfillment both now and not yet. Photo by Zoltan Tasi on Unsplash

I've been thinking about two big moments in the writings of the New Testament accounts of Jesus.  Both of these involve the deceiver or the evil one or, as other renderings go, the devil or satan (both not proper names).  So in Luke 4, Jesus is directly confronted by the evil one tempting Him with power, fame, and pleasure, and to use His strength for Himself.  Jesus, being very hungry and tired at this point, refuses to play the deciever's game.  So, the deceiver goes away to figure out another attempt to take Jesus down. This leads to the second encounter, but this time, the evil one doesn't go directly but indirectly through one of Jesus's inner 3 disciples, Simon Peter. For some reason, Luke leaves this out of his account, but it is recorded both by Matthew (16:23) and Mark (8:33). Toward the end of Luke's account (chapter 22), the deceiver apparently gives up on attacking Jesus, so he switches to others in Jesus' life, like Judas Iscariot and Simon Peter, t...

Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.” -John 18:36 NLT Jesus said this to a Roman governor to make it clear that competing with empires like Rome was not His mission. In contrast, Jesus spoke of the new "called-out people" of His kingdom as unstoppable by any force (Matthew 16:18). I find it interesting that the spread of the early church throughout the Roman Empire was at least in part successful due to Roman roads, a common language (koine Greek), and a viable legal system. The Roman Empire ended after an almost 500-year run.  However, the Kingdom of Messiah Jesus is still going and will never end! 10 So, dear brothers and sisters,[a] work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away. 11 Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of o...